Felix Contreras
Felix Contreras is co-creator and host of Alt.Latino, NPR's pioneering radio show and podcast celebrating Latin music and culture since 2010.
In addition to his post behind the mic, Contreras programs music from the Latin diaspora for the acclaimed Tiny Desk concerts and hosts a weekly Instagram Live interview with a wide-ranging roster of guests.
A knowledgeable international ambassador for Latino heritage and arts, "Tio Felix '' travels extensively in search of new talent and new music and captures important legacy performers in jazz and Latin genres. Various national and international publications have quoted his expertise on the contemporary influences of Latin culture, music, and media.
His a recovering TV journalist whose first post at NPR in 2001 was as a Producer/Reporter for the NPR News Arts Desk. He is also NPR's resident Deadhead and performs around the DC area with his Latin music Beatles cover band, Los Day Trippers.
-
The pianist and the percussionist/vocalist combine their talents in a playful and innovative collaboration, produced by Quincy Jones. -
This week's Alt.Latino playlist stretches the boundaries of the conventional. These genre-bending tracks celebrate female prowess, camaraderie and an artist's destiny. -
NPR Music's Alt Latino host Felix Contreras shares some new tunes via a "musical blindfold test" with Lulu.
-
Good Morning, Aztlán collects several well-known Pérez compositions as well as his thoughts on a variety of topics. -
The saxophonist is a big thinker whose mesmerizing compositions chronicle the music of his native Puerto Rico with the help of an adventurous jazz quartet.
-
Spanish-language artists like Ozuna, J Balvin and Bad Bunny dominated YouTube with billions of plays. Alt.Latino host Felix Contreras and contributor Stefanie Fernández explain how we got here.
-
In an interview from Puerto Rico, Bad Bunny talks about his influences and the music on his new record. -
More than 40 years after its release, Lynyrd Skynyrd's Sweet Home Alabama is still one of the most recognized rock anthems celebrating the deep South. It's also a song with a complicated legacy. -
Cuban pianist Harold López-Nussa, along with his brother Ruy on drums and bassist Gaston Joya, deliver a set of danceable jazz explorations rooted in Afro-Cuban musical traditions to the Tiny Desk.
-
This week, our playlist features nostalgic hits by Nancy Sanchez and Bad Bunny alongside exploratory tracks by Natti Natasha and Sol Pereyra.
